@LandoNorris fends off team-mate @OscarPiastri to clinch #AustrianGP victory. #F1

Norris Austrian GP Victory – Lando Norris fended off a fast-charging championship-leading McLaren team-mate of Oscar Piastri to claim his third victory of the season at the Austrian GP as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completed the top three.

 

 

This was Norris’s seventh-career win and in terms of the World Driver’s Championship battle, the Briton brings the gap down to his team-mate Piastri at 15 points as they head to McLaren’s home Grand Prix at Silverstone next weekend. Piastri (216) – Norris (201).

 

This was also McLaren’s first victory at the Austrian Grand Prix since 2001.

 

When the 71-lap Austrian GP began – on the formation lap Williams’ Carlos Sainz was stuck on the grid and in first gear, meaning the start will be aborted for another formation lap.

 

The Spaniard finally got going, but the race will re-start in another ten minutes.

 

Sainz returned to the end of the pit-lane as his FW47’s rear brakes caught fire as the team rushed over to put the fire out.

 

Race control stated that the race would start at 3:15pm local time.

 

Sainz was told by his team to retire the car due to the brake fire – the FW47 was still billowing smoke and overheating as it was wheeled back into the Williams garage.

 

With one lap less and the 70-lap Austrian GP began, pole-sitter Norris got a solid start into turn one as Leclerc had a brief look- but Piastri breezed past Leclerc to snatch P2.

 

On the rundown into turn four, further back in the field there was a multi-car incident, as Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli locked up and Verstappen spun, and both were out of the race. Verstappen and Antonelli were chatting and having a little debrief as the Dutchman waved to the crowd.

 

The safety car was deployed to clear the Mercedes and Red Bull.

 

When the race resumed on lap four, race leader Norris charged away from team-mate Piastri with Leclerc third, Hamilton fourth, Russell fifth, Gasly sixth, Albon seventh, Bortoleto eighth, Lawson ninth as Alonso rounded out the top ten runners.

 

In the fight for fourth, Russell had a look around the outside of Hamilton into turn four, but the former covered his former team-mate.

 

Race leader Norris held a 0.350 second gap over team-mate Piastri with the latter keeping in DRS range.

 

Russell was not happy about some of the moves Hamilton pulled on the last tour – saying he had the door shut on him a bit later.

 

Piastri on the sixth tour had a look on team-mate Norris into turn four, but the Briton shut the door on his race leading team-mate.

 

The two MCL39 entries were disappearing from the field – Piastri was already over two seconds behind Leclerc on the seventh tour. The gaps were starting to appear at this stage of proceedings as cars dropped back to create some fresh air to save some tyre life amongst the sweltering 50+ degrees at the Red Bull Ring. Piastri was told he is free to race his team-mate out-front.

 

On lap 10, race leader Norris’s lead over Piastri was at 0.686 with Leclerc a further 4.372 off in third, Hamilton fourth, Russell fifth as Albon made his way past Gasly on the inside of turn four to take sixth place as the Frenchman’s softer tyres began to degrade.

 

The incident between Antonelli and Verstappen was currently investigated by the race stewards.

 

On lap 11, Piastri had a look on Norris into turn three and got ahead – but the Briton got the switch-back and made his way back in-front of the Australian on the rundown into turn four as Norris just kept ahead.

 

On the 12^th lap Bortoleto, overtook Gasly into turn four for seventh place as the latter came in to get rid of his softs immediately.

 

Gasly emerged with his fresh set of hards down in 15th place but was overtaken by Bearman on the charge to turn four.

 

Albon pitted from sixth on the 14^th tour to swap his mediums for hards and rejoined in 13^th place behind RB’s Isack Hadjar.

 

Piastri’s MCL39 and tyres were screaming at him – and indeed, the Australian was warned about his gearbox, that is overheating. He was nine tenths back from team-mate Norris.

 

Piastri thought about it into the opening corner but thought better of it. But Norris got a better exit out of turns 3 and 4. Nothing doing here for the Australian, but he got DRS again on the main straight.

 

On the 17^th lap Albon became the fourth retiree of the Grand Prix making it a double DNF for Williams.

 

Cat and mouse stuff for the two McLaren drivers as Norris was placing his car perfectly. No lock- ups. With not an inch off the racing line. Piastri was trying to push his team mate into a mistake. But nothing is happening right now as Norris was keeping his cool from the threat behind him.

 

On the 19^th tour, Russell pitted from sixth to remove his degrading mediums for his fresh set of hards and came out in 11^th place ahead of Gasly.

 

Lap 20 saw race leader Norris’s gap over team-mate Piastri at half-a-second with Leclerc holding third, Hamilton holding fourth, Bortoleto fifth, Lawson sixth as Alonso rounded out the top seven.

 

Piastri attempted an overtake on Norris into turn four – but the former suffered a massive lock-up almost taking him and his leading team-mate out.

 

Norris was told to box, and the Briton made his first stop on lap 21 – the McLaren driver had a slow front-left and came out in fourth in clear air on his fresh set of the C3 hards.

 

Bortoleto then stopped from fourth for his fresh set of the harder compound and emerged in 13^th behind Bearman’s VF-25 entry.

 

Piastri told his race engineer Tom Stallard he had a flat-spot. He was told the flat-spit is okay to continue. “Yeah, it is not pleasant, but it is okay,” Piastri said.

 

Piastri then pitted from the lead for his fresh set of hards – but the Australian also suffered a slow 3.4 seconds stop due to a front-left issue and came out 5.725 seconds behind team-mate Norris in fourth.

 

Leclerc came in for his initial stop for his C3’s on lap 26 and slotted into sixth place behind Alonso’s Aston Martin who was battling with RB’s Liam Lawson.

 

Hamilton was told to box on the beginning of lap 27 to relinquish his lead to Norris and emerged on his fresh set of hards in sixth place behind team-mate Leclerc.

 

Leclerc with a late lunge into the uphill turn three right hander made his way in-front of Alonso to jump into fourth.

 

Leclerc a tour later made short-work of Lawson in the same spot to move back up into third place.

 

Piastri was told that his lock up from earlier was “marginal” and he could not do that again. Papaya rules then, nothing that jeopardises the win, but clean fighting is okay.

 

On lap 29, Hamilton overtook Alonso on the inside into turn one and then around the outside of Lawson into turn six.

 

The lap 30 mark saw Norris’s lead over Piastri at 6.5 seconds with Leclerc third, Hamilton fourth, Lawson fifth as Alonso rounded out the top six runners.

 

Further back, Red Bull’s sole driver Yuki Tsunoda sent Alpine’s Franco Colapinto into a spin hitting the back of the Alpine at turn four.

 

The Japanese driver immediately pitted for a new front wing and medium tyres, emerging at the rear of the field.

 

Piastri was starting to close the gap on lap 32 – he was just 5.9s back. Leclerc was back up to third, ahead of Hamilton and Lawson. Alonso still had not pitted, and he was running ahead of Bortoleto and Hulkenberg.

 

Lawson finally made his stop on lap 33 and re-joined down in 12^th place behind Bearman as Tsunoda was hit with a ten-second time penalty for causing a collision with Colapinto at turn four.

 

Alonso then stopped on lap 34 for his fresh set of harder rubber and came out in 11^th place behind Lawson.

 

At half race distance, Norris’s lead over Piastri was down to 5.533 seconds as the Australian was slowly starting to close down his race leading team-mate. Piastri had tyres that are four laps fresher than Norris. Leclerc was looking good for a podium at this stage of proceedings and was three seconds in-front of team-mate Hamilton.

 

The battle at the front was going to play out later on after the second round of stops, when the tyre delta eventually played out. As it stood on lap 38, Norris lead by 5.2 seconds over Piastri.

 

With 30 tours left, Norris’s gap was continuing to be eaten as Piastri brought it down to 4.348 seconds with Leclerc in third, Hamilton fourth, Russell fifth, Bortoleto sixth, Hulkenberg seventh, Ocon eighth as Lawson passed Alonso for ninth.

 

The gap at the front was at three seconds between Norris and Piastri. Norris had just picked off Stroll as the leaders began to negotiate their way through traffic, Piastri was yet to do so at this stage.

 

Hulkenberg then stopped on lap 44 from seventh for his fresh set of medium tyres and came out in 11^th place behind Hadjar’s VCARB02 entry.

 

Up front, it appeared that it isn’t just the traffic that is costing Norris time. He asked if Piastri was just quicker everywhere on track. The gap was back up to 3.5 seconds on lap 44.

 

Russell came in for his second stop on lap 46 for his fresh set of hards and returned in 10^th place behind Hadjar. The Mercedes driver on his new rubber, stormed ahead of the Frenchman to jump into ninth after his overtake on the inside into turn four.

 

The gap out-front was at 3.5 seconds on the 47^th tour, and Piastri had stopped reeling Norris in. The Australian needed enough tyre life to push on when Norris does pit for a second time, The championship leader had cleared Hulkenberg, so can get about chasing his team-mate.

 

Third-placed Leclerc made his second and final stop for his fresh set of the C5 yellow-branded mediums and emerged in fourth behind team-mate Hamilton as Bortoleto also stopped for Sauber.

 

The Brazilian came out in tenth behind Hadjar on his set of mediums.

 

Hamilton then boxed on lap 51 for his C5’s and released team-mate Leclerc back into third.

 

Ocon pitted from eighth on lap 52 to emerge in 11^th place behind Hulkenberg’s Sauber.

 

Race leader Norris made his final stop on lap 53 for his new set of mediums as his team-mate Piastri was told to box a tour later.

 

A quick two second stop and a .5 second gain for Piastri on team-mate Norris as The Australian came out side by side with Colapinto and was almost pushed onto the grass by the Alpine driver.

 

Colapinto was quickly under investigation by the race stewards for his incident with second-placed Piastri.

 

On the 56^th tour – Norris was leading the Grand Prix by 3.4 seconds. Piastri holding second, with his medium tyres one lap fresher than Norris. Leclerc was third and 12 seconds back and Hamilton was a further 6.9 seconds adrift. Russell was fifth in the order, whilst behind them Lawson and Alonso were trying to hold the rest behind on a one-stop strategy.

 

With ten laps remaining, Norris’s lead over team-mate Piastri was at 2.458 seconds with Leclerc a further 14.924 seconds off in third, Hamilton fourth, Russell fifth, Lawson sixth, Alonso seventh, the two Sauber’s of Bortoleto and Hulkenberg in eighth and ninth respectively as Ocon rounded out the top ten.

 

Norris called over his radio: “I need pace, please help.” As Piastri found another half-a-second on Norris on lap 61, the Australian pushing hard for the win. But will he have enough tyre life left to battle with Norris when he gets to within DRS range of his McLaren team-mate.

 

The fight between Norris versus Piastri was intensifying. The gap was down to 1.6 seconds, but Norris managed to gain a few more tenths and the lead grew again to 1.9 seconds. No DRS for Piastri just yet on the 63^rd tour.

 

On lap 64, Norris was told he had a damaged front wing – and there was nothing the team can do. But Piastri had to pick off Hulkenberg, which costed him some time.

 

The gap goes up to 2.1 second as Piastri cleared Bortoleto’s Sauber on lap 65.

 

Norris and Piastri matched lap times in the fight for the lead on lap 66, so there was nothing doing there on that tour.

 

On lap 68, race leader Norris was encouraged not to overdrive in the first few corners as both the Briton and Piastri cleared Tsunoda, and the gap was down to 1.5 seconds as they began to approach Alonso and Bortoleto fighting ahead.

 

The penultimate lap saw Bortoleto get the move done, Alonso tried to cut back inside, he snatched the place back – similar to the move Piastri put on Norris earlier in the Grand Prix. Alonso remained in front at that moment. And then Norris was there, and Bortoleto had to yield.

 

Piastri was just 1.3 seconds back on the final tour but had run out of time with nothing doing between Bortoleto and Alonso still fighting. Those two were nose to tail, with Norris just ahead and Piastri right behind.

 

Norris crossed the line to take victory at the Austrian GP with a 2.695 second gap over team-mate Piastri in a McLaren one-two as Leclerc crossed the line third and a further 17.725 seconds adrift in third as Ferrari team-mate Hamilton settled for fourth.

 

Russell followed in fifth and in-front of Lawson who finished an impressive sixth.

 

Alonso just held on to come home seventh ahead of Bortoleto who took eighth and Hulkenberg who reached the chequered flag ninth to complete a double points haul for Sauber whilst Ocon completed the final points places for Haas.

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2025 Austrian GP – The Top Three

 

 

2025 Austrian GP Winner – Lando Norris, #4, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL39 – (25 Points):

“It was a tough race, pushing the whole way through, tricky and tiring. A 1-2 is exactly what we wanted, and we did it so I’m happy. We had a great battle; it was a lot of sun – a lot of stress but a lot of fun. A nice battle, so well done to Oscar. Inside the car it was tough, especially when he was in the DRS.”

 

2^nd Place – Oscar Piastri, #81, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL39, +2.695s – (18 Points):

“Intense. I hope it was good watching, as it was pretty hard work inside the car. I tried my absolute best, probably could have done a better job when I just got ahead. A good battle probably pushed the limits a little far. Close, but not quite enough”

 

3^rd Place – Charles Leclerc, #16, Scuderia Ferrari, SF-25, +17.725s – (15 Points):

“I rate our weekend as a team really well. Unfortunately, the pace today was not enough. I think [McLaren] were too fast for us to stay in second, third was the best we could do. I don’t regret anything we did today, we did the maximum.”

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Formula 1 MSC Cruises Austrian Grand Prix 2025 Race Results Classification (71 Laps)

 

POS.	NO.	DRIVER	TEAM	LAPS	TIME / RETIRED	PTS.
1	4	Lando Norris	McLaren	70	1:23:47.693
2	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	70	+2.695s
3	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	70	+19.820s
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	70	+29.020s
5	63	George Russell	Mercedes	70	+62.396s
6	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	70	+67.754s
7	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	69	+1 lap
8	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Kick Sauber	69	+1 lap
9	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Kick Sauber	69	+1 lap
10	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas	69	+1 lap
11	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas	69	+1 lap
12	6	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls	69	+1 lap
13	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	69	+1 lap
14	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	69	+1 lap
15	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	69	+1 lap
16	22	Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull Racing	68	+2 laps
NC	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	15	DNF
NC	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	0	DNF
NC	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	0	DNF
NC	55	Carlos Sainz	Williams	0	DNF
* Provisional results.

 

https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2025/races/1264/austria/race-result

 

Click here for the 2025 Formula 1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructor’s Championship Standings

 

Round 12 of the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship heads straight to the legendary Silverstone Circuit in Silverstone, Towcester, United Kingdom for the Formula 1 Qatar Airways British Grand Prix 2025 from Friday July 4-Sunday July 6.